PRR: Who will pay for the increase in the desalination plant must be «defined quickly»

The National Commission for Monitoring the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) recommends that it be «quickly defined» who will be responsible for the «additional funding» that will be needed for «increasing the capacity» of the desalination plant that will be built in the Algarve (in Albufeira or Lagos). 

The recommendation is contained in the annual report of the Monitoring Committee, which was released this Wednesday, February 22nd.

The desalination plant is one of the main investments supported by the PRR, in the Algarve, as part of a series of works in the area of ​​water efficiency.

At first, it was planned that the plant would have a capacity of eight cubic hectometers, but the Government changed its mind.

On a visit to the Algarve earlier this year, Duarte Cordeiro, Minister for the Environment, announced that the desalination plant will, after all, have 24 cubic hectometers. 

In the opinion of the National Monitoring Committee, this is one of the PRR's investments that "needs monitoring", precisely because it is not yet known who will finance the increase in the desalination plant's capacity.

In the report, the entity, led by Pedro Dominguinhos, who was recently in the Algarve, says that the «increase in costs will be financed either by reprogramming the PRR or by other means to be defined».

Only then will follow «the elaboration of the Environmental Impact Study that will study the Albufeira and Lagos solutions» for the construction of the desalination plant.

In the list of recommendations, the Commission also says that “greater proximity to farmers is necessary in order to identify their needs” and the promotion of “communication of the planned measures, given the poor adherence existing in the first notice”.

According to the entity, the projects that need monitoring are those that, «despite the fulfillment of defined milestones and goals being expected, some delays may have been identified, such as the signing of contracts, deserted tenders, among others».

In this report, the Commission also reveals that an investment in the Odeleite dam – visited by Duarte Cordeiro – is “practically concluded” and that, in relation to “the Pomarão water intake, the delivery of the Environmental Impact Study is scheduled for March " this year.